Question
Nowadays it is widely accepted that social skills are as important as good qualifications. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample answer
When it comes to employment, qualifications as the intelligence quotient (IQ) always matter; and in addition, gaining social skills as the emotional quotient (EQ) is useful for one to stand out from the crowd. Those who want to make themselves desirable employees may be wise to focus on their social skills since it is no longer enough for people to rely on good qualifications. Qualifications being not the issue, social skills can make a difference when competing for employments and promotions.
In the first place, the importance of social skills can be noted in today's typical job interviews. In fact, it is commonly accepted that the EQ is often directly tied to the degree of success one may have in the workplace. In terms of employability, to be successful the emotional abilities are as important as the intelligent abilities. That is probably why IQ testing is administered not very frequently these days. In comparison, some companies are testing the EQ instead to measure one's adequacy in such areas as self-awareness, empathy, and dealing sensitively with other people. This kind of exam is increasingly popular because employers try to keep away some job seekers who appear to be inclined to take a more negative attitude toward social inter-relationships.
Obviously, some employees with better social skills stand better chances of being promoted to higher job levels, for good reasons. As valuable as qualifications, social skills may determine one's well-being and effectiveness both at work and in life. Whether in verbal or nonverbal forms, the opposite of social skills is social ineptitude, roughly meaning the lack of a set of personal skills to communicate, relate and socialize with others. In plain words, employees in higher positions usually have made themselves good communicators for being able to be at ease, converse fluidly, grasp social "rituals" such as what to say, when to say and how to say it in certain situations. On the other hand, some other employees, although having high IQs as well, do not seem to be particularly adept at maintaining social interactions and seem socially shy or awkward at best. This viewpoint goes to imply why, among employees with similar concepts of literacy and numeracy and knowledge, some happen to excel others from beginning to end.
Qualifications plus social skills can be one of the best formulas for one's career success, the IQ and the EQ being equally crucial in the modern job market. Ignoring social skills may often lead to undue conflict or disharmony when working as a group because there are circumstances under which logical reasoning alone could not entirely tackle day-to-day sensitive problems. So, as long as employability is concerned, there is no "either/or" question but the answer must necessarily be "both."
